As reported by the National Statistics Office (NSO), the total merchandise exports estimated at US$4,374 million in September 2007 increased by 4.7 percent compared to US$4,178 million in September 2006.

Electronic products, the country’s top export which comprised 60.7 percent of the total exports, dropped by 0.2 percent in contrast to 6.5 percent growth registered in the same month last year. Other commodities in the list of top ten exports, which accounts for 17.6 percent of the total, include (a) articles of apparel and clothing accessories (b) cathodes and sections of cathodes, of refined copper; (c) woodcrafts and furniture; (d) ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles aircrafts and ships; (e) petroleum products; (f) coconut oil; (g) other products manufactured from materials on consignment basis; (h) metal components; and (i) fresh bananas.

In terms of contribution to the growth in exports, the biggest share came from cathodes and section of cathodes of refined copper at 0.7 percentage point followed by coconut oil and woodcrafts and furniture at 0.6 and 0.5 percentage point, respectively.

Among the top ten exports, coconut oil posted the highest increase at 67.2 percent compared to the same month a year ago. Other top gainers were woodcrafts and furniture at 33.2 and cathodes and section of cathodes of refined copper at 28.4 percent. On the other hand, other products manufactured from materials imported on consignment basis, petroleum products, and articles of apparel and clothing accessories weakened by 32.5, 31.6 and 16.8 percent, respectively.

The biggest markets for exports in September 2007 were the United States of America with 17.0 percent share, Japan with 14.3 percent share, and Hongkong with 13.7 percent share. Compared to 2006 figures on percent share, USA and Japan exhibited a decline of 2.8 and 1.2 percentage points, respectively while Hongkong grew by 5.1 percentage points.

Monthly data on merchandise exports are generated from the compilation of foreign trade statistics which is one of the designated statistical activities of the NSO under Executive Order No. 352, Designation of Statistical Activities That Will Generate Critical Data for Decision-Making of the Government and the Private Sector, issued on July 1, 1996. Per EO, data on exports should be made available 45 days after the reference month. The NSO released the September 2007 data on exports on November 9, 2007, earlier by 5 days from the target. It may be noted that the top ten exports listed in the NSO foreign trade statistics are different from the principal merchandise exports in the national accounts which are based on the 1988 list of top exports to maintain the national accounts link series over a period of time. For further inquiries, please contact Ms. Rosie B. Sta. Ana, Chief of the Economic Indicators and Indices Division of the NSO, at telefax numbered 716-39-35 and e-mail address r.staana@census.gov.ph.

Link to data source: http://www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2007/ex0907tx.html